Most people in the US have surely heard about the sniper on the loose in the Washington DC area who has killed six people, wounded 1, and this morning, a 13 year-old may have been his latest victim.

quote:

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While the search continued, family and friends gathered to bury Prem Kumar Walekar, a taxi driver slain Thursday at an Aspen Hill gas station.

Nieces and nephews sang songs and remembered a man they called “Prem Uncle” while standing under a video screen that flashed snapshots from his life. Walekar, 54, was remembered as quiet, funny, generous and caring, a man who showed his affection with a gentle pinch of a child’s cheek.

Family friend Lazarus Borge told the mourners Walekar “was indiscriminately shot dead by an elusive assailant, whose evil hands entered his life like a snap, in an instant.”

Walekar was one of five people shot to death at random in Montgomery County in a 16-hour span Wednesday and Thursday. A sixth victim was killed Thursday in Washington, D.C.

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Walekar was a member of the Sligo SDA Church and was buried Sunday. NBC showed a bit of the funeral on the evening news.

We know that this tragedy is just another sign of the times, but how difficult is it for those who have lost loved ones to this killer.

Things like this strengthens the reason why we want to leave this sinful world behind us to be replaced by a restored sinless world where we will never need to fear anything ever again.

Hi,

I'm very sad to read that the sniper 'got' one of our own. No one is safe in this wicked world anymore.

Now we have terrorism getting closer to us in Australia. Well at least there should not have been any SDA's in a night club - as I am referring to Bali. It's on our news all day.

So now we wait to see who did it. Well this is a wake up call - We all felt rather smug and safe down here. We are all getting too many wakeup calls how unsafe we are now - so we must work at getting our lives in order as we cannot be too sure anymore of being here tomorrow.

I have a brand new grandaughter and so I worry for her future but Ellen White did not tell us to stop having families -

Let's all bond closer together, we all need each other more than ever now. love in Him Barb

That sniper actually shot somebody right where a police officer was directing traffic, and he still got away!

Why can't they nab this character?

I watched a news magazine report on the killings last week. While they were talking about it, I thought back to the 1970's in NYC, when there was a serial killer on the loose who turned out to be the "Son of Sam." He claimed that a demon in the shape of a dog was giving him orders to kill. He took quite a few lives before he was finally tripped up and arrested. The DC sniper has already left a Tarot death card at one shooting with the words written on it, "I am God." Many people may see this as a deranged individual, but I believe that (s)he is demon possessed in some manner. (Please, folks, I don't want to argue about what demon possession is here!)

They will probably catch this character at some point, unless he completely stops and disappears. They have 24-7 surveylance on 6 possible suspects. But of course, it may be someone else and no one of them.

There are suggestions that the sniper may be of middle-east origin. This, coupled with the explosion in Bali and other recent events point to something greater happening.

A book I picked up recently about 9-11 says that the events last September at best were like the sinking of the Titanic--a one-time tragedy. At worst, they could be the start of a conflict full of violence between two irreconcilable forces in our society. The Bible and Spirit of Prophecy point to and encounter of the later sort.

According to Ephesians, Christ is the one who removes "the barrier of separation." It is only in Him that conflicts can be resolved. This makes me want to re-double efforts to let people know about Jesus and His peace.

The "Go One Billion" initative voted on by the Autumn Conuncil couldn't have come at a better time! Read about it here: http://www.adventist.org/news/specials/annual_council_2002/sow_1_billion.html